All Forum Posts by: Jay Orlauski

Thanks Ray, I never thought of contributing it to a charity - I kind of like that idea. I also like the idea of using it then selling it while I'm there - but I have these visions of me in a hawaiian shirt and straw hat standing on the corner handing out brochures to tourists the whole time trying to hawk them. I have to admit that I havn't tried in earnest to move these things. I may look into the charity thing - I would assume that this would qualify for a tax write off? It's certainly worth looking into. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks Angie, I am hoping to do this again and again - cause it is definitely worth it

As some of you know , my wife an I have been looking for a fourplex or triplex situation for about 5 months now. Compounding our challenges to getting an offer accepted is the fact that we are going to be owner occupied and going FHA. Multiplexes have been ridiculously cheap in the fresno area , so wholesalers and all cash buyers have been swooping up everything as soon as they hit the market. We have made over 25 offers and in some cases offered 30K more than the asking price and were still outbid. We have concessions asking for closing costs and require seller to repair anything FHA requires - so I can understand that many offers probably looked more attractive than ours, especially if they are cash offers - however , we agreed in the beginning what we were willing to ask for and where we would bend.

After 5 months of near hits, we finally found the perfect place. A triplex of 2b/ 1b units single story with 1 car garage and laundry room. All newer fixtures and tile floors and counters in all units -
its located on a quiet cul de sac and has plenty of parking and no neighbors to either side.

The owner has had it for long time and did want to sell to a flipper or manager , but wanted an owner occupied buyer so he was even though we offered 14k less than his asking , he came back at 205k and is paying towards closing , and all FHA required repairs.

It's a really amazing payoff after all these months of searching. We are really excited about getting back into property management. I am considering looking for more property as soon as the dust settles and see if maybe I can wholesale it - try to make enough for a down on another multiplex - perhaps a duplex this time since the down will have to be 20% as it would not be owner occupied.

In any case, I wanted to share this experience with everybody and remind anyone who has not been getting offers accepted that if you stick to it and keep going after properties - it's a numbers game and persistence pays off. personally , as frustrated as I have been getting, I still feel lucky that it only took us 5 months - my sister took 6 months just to get an SFR offer accepted and I have seen a lot of other horror stories on the site.

The mortgage will be $1162 and the it is fully rented right now at $750- 775 a month. We couldn't be more pleased. At this point the only thing ( i think) that could mess things up is if the appraisal doesn't come in high enough - fingers crossed. If all goes well we should be closing by mid november. Just in case, we are still looking out for other opportunities. Never give up!!

Congratulations! you got the bug now!!! It seems like once you understand that you can actually do this , it's hard to stop looking for new opportunities.

not exactly overwhelmed with responses...uh anyone interested in spending a week in Hawaii? I really don't know what I'm gonna do with the thing - it's costing us close to $600 a year in maintenance. I'm pretty sure I could use that somewhere else.

Hi everyone, I've got a timeshare from about 12 years ago that I never use. We tried to list it a few years ago and paid an upfront fee to have it listed and advertised. It was never sold. Once the initial selling contract expired , they wanted more money to continue listing it. We chose not too and have never tried to sell it again.

We recently received a flyer from a company called Safe Hands transfers that promises to relieve you of your time share with no upfront costs and even claims to pay your fees while in transfer. I've googled them and have not found too much info about them other than some people have claimed to asked for payment up front - yet their website and printed materials are driven by claims of no upfront fees or listing fees. The number gets you an appointment with someone - I am very suspicious of this company and wanted your opinions as to whether anyone has ever dealt with them before.

A more pressing question might be - does anyone know of any legitimate ways/ companies that can help me get rid of these timeshares?

Welcome Scott!

Glad you found the site - I too wish I had found this place sooner. There are many very smart people here with a lot of good things to say. I have already learned several things I had not even thought about before - I myself am looking forward implementing some of the things I've learned here and sharing the experience with everybody else.

Welcome to BP - I think you'll find that there are plenty of people here looking to wheel and deal. I am in Fresno and always on the lookout for opportunities in real estate. I liquidated most of my properties in 2004, and I am now looking to purchase again. I can only go so far as a fourplex right now, but plan to pick up some more units over the next couple of years and hopefully get into 10 - 20 unit complexes within 5 years. I think if we stay in contact there may be opportunities for both of us in central and northern california.

However , we recently put a bid on a house that has been listed for a while and we offered 14k less - suddenly , we are the middle of counter offers and are further along with this property than any others we have approached so far. . Seems like a strategy that could come in handy.